Suunto 7 Review: Productivity on the Wrist with Google Wear OS?

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Suunto’s first watch to run on Google’s Wear OS (IBTimes)

The watch is arguably the first ever piece of wearable tech in human history, so it is fitting that in the era of connected tech, the smartwatch is also the most contended space for innovation.

These days what many companies like Amazfit and Withings are opening a new niche in the market where the smartwatches are less ‘smart’ and more ‘watch’ in terms of functionality and build. On the other hand there is the direction of Apple and Samsung is taking, where the function of the watch is being pushed to converge with smartphones.

This latter direction is where the Suunto 7 is taking, where it goes above and beyond of what a watch, or even a fitness tracker can do. With this approach, the watch has the potential to significantly replace a lot of your day-to-day screen time on your phone. Just as smartphones took our eyes off our PCs, this seems like the logical next evolutionary step for wearable tech.

So can the Suunto 7 successfully take my eyes off my phone? I spent the last few weeks using the watch and here are my findings.

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Suunto 7 has a sweeping second-hand that is high res and fluid (IBTimes)

Flagship level screen

From the moment the watch is turned on, the high resolution and fluidity of the animation immediately shows off the capability of this Wear OS watch. My first impression is that the display is on-par with current flagship smartphones in the market at the moment. This was further reinforced when I began swiping the screen, which had the same sensitivity and even momentum of a quality smartphone interface. This is in fact crucial in providing a user experience that made me feel like this is an extension of my phone around my wrist.  TOP ARTICLES1/5READ MORETornado Watch Issued For Texas,Oklahoma Regions

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GPS Tracking shows the watch position on a high resolution map (IBTimes)

The display itself is using an AMOLED panel, which produces the deep blacks and saturated colors that one would expect. The screen brightness is also rated at 1000 nits, which is up there with the brightest smartphones there are. Because of this the Suunto 7 screen is perfectly visible even under direct sunlight – an important feature to have in a watch that was made to be used comfortably outdoors.